


I Know

by Elendiliel



Series: A Medic's Guide to the Galaxy [6]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Post-Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Rescue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 15:53:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26880205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elendiliel/pseuds/Elendiliel
Summary: No plan ever survives contact with reality. Poe knows this all too well by now. But his latest mad scheme - rescuing a captured Resistance operative - is about to go off course in a way neither expect.
Series: A Medic's Guide to the Galaxy [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1954132





	I Know

**Author's Note:**

> This acts as a follow-up to Chapter 2 of Unlikely Friends, Unseen Enemies. Once again, apologies in advance for my ill-regulated imagination.

Poe had never thought he’d be _thankful_ for having been in a First Order interrogation cell, but in a weird kind of way, now he was. Along with the FO’s obsession with standardisation and his own sense of direction, it was stopping him from getting totally lost in the Star Destroyer’s endless corridors. He sprinted towards where he was sure they would be on this ship (he’d forgotten its name now; they all had ridiculous names like _Finalizer_ or _Steadfast_ , and there was something satisfying about proving them wrong). Behind him, he could just hear Finn and Rose causing as much disturbance as they could, and with any luck nicking as much information as they could as well. Scarif tactics: two people making enough trouble for twenty. And hopefully faring rather better than the original Rogue One had.

For once, the extraction plan had gone according to, well, plan. The TIE patrol hadn’t known what hit them. And as for being recognised as soon as they stepped on board – even he hadn’t been stupid enough to think that three of the FO’s most wanted could enter a Star Destroyer bristling with stormtroopers and security cameras, practically through the front door, without being recognised. That had been intentional. Let them think it was another sabotage or really dumb espionage attempt, and keep their attention away from the prisoner he and his friends were there to rescue.

Why had the girl even volunteered? Granted, she could look and sound like a FO officer if she really put her mind to it, and her natural talent for going under the radar must have helped. But she’d known she couldn’t keep it up for long, and briefed him accordingly.

 _If things go wrong_ , she’d said, _don’t come back for me. I’ll get out by myself if I can, but if I can’t, I don’t want anyone risking their lives just for me_. They had, and she hadn’t. Three days since her commlink’s self-destruct sequence had triggered a preset burst transmission saying that her cover was blown, repeating that she didn’t want to be rescued, and no sign of her. The second tracking device in her implant had led them here. He just hoped he was in time.

There they were! Interrogation cells, dead ahead, only one guarded. The guard hadn’t seen him yet; he was distracted by his prisoner, yelling at her to keep the noise down. A stun-bolt shut him up. The cell door was unlocked – sloppy, very sloppy, although Rose had wired together something that could get through any door on the ship. And there she was, battered but very much alive.

The noise the guard had been complaining about must have been her wrenching her left arm free of her restraints. She was working on the right now, hampered by a clearly dislocated thumb. He hurried over and released her hand with another of Rose’s gadgets. Her still-visible eye met his, full of gratitude shot through with mild annoyance and pain she was nearly managing to conceal. (Something else, too, that he now realised had been there all along, but hidden until then.) He’d never thought of Elinor as particularly attractive, but her eyes were _beautiful_. Because it seemed like a good idea at the time, he leaned over and kissed her.

She met him halfway, threading her good hand through his hair and returning the kiss with more passion than he’d thought she could feel. He wrapped both arms around her unexpectedly strong back to take the weight off her damaged hand and arm. He’d seen her in an outfit that left relatively little to the imagination, especially her arms and legs, but her strength still startled him. He could feel her emotions, as well – joy, surprise, curiosity being both satisfied and deepened as she explored this new experience, _love_. He tried not to burden her with too much of his own feelings, but they were along the same lines.

After some time – probably just seconds, but it felt much longer – he realised that she was still in pain, and he was making it worse. Reluctantly, he broke away and started to remove the restraints from her legs, while she fixed her hand, found and replaced the corrective lens someone had removed from her left eye, and rubbed the dried blood out of her right. He was halfway through asking, “Can you stand?”, when she did, tentatively at first, stretching out her cramped limbs, but stably. He handed her her most important belongings – the satchel-style med-kit her parents had given her when she got into Coruscant University, the datapad that had been a graduation present, and the holorecorder with her diary that she usually wore around her neck. Somehow, she looked more herself as each item was put in its accustomed place. She was rather less enthusiastic about the blaster, even though it was her own, set to stun and with the controls taped up to keep them that way. Finally, they were ready to go. They spoke as little as possible as they headed back towards the commotion that usually meant Finn and Rose, more slowly than Poe had come. Even at the best of times, Elinor was no sprinter, and she insisted on tending to any injured soldier they passed, which made things worse.

The others were still giving as good as they got, but they had been pinned down in a corridor near the hangar. Poe and Elinor sent the defenders to the land of dreams before they’d been noticed, buying just enough time to get to the TIEs they had used to enter the ship, which were still unlocked. Finn and Rose took one fighter, Poe and Elinor the other, Elinor sitting primly in the gunner’s seat with her hands folded in her lap.

“You know, you’re gonna have to use those controls some time, highness,” Poe told her through the comm. He could picture her smile at the new nickname. “We’re gonna have TIEs all over us in a minute. The others put the ship’s cannons out of action, but it’s still going to be tough getting us outta here.”

She was silent, probably wrestling with her overactive conscience. Seriously, what was she doing in the Resistance? Finally, she said, “I have an idea, but we’ll need to coordinate _very_ carefully.”

She explained, and he grinned. That was her all over. The TIE curved back towards their pursuers, angling over the lead fighter such that laser fire could splash across the very edge of one panel. In microgravity, the slight shift in angular momentum was just enough to send it tumbling out of control. Not too damaged, and they’d planned it so that it wouldn’t hit anything, but the pilot would have some difficulty following them. Another few passes by both of the pirated TIEs sent more spinning away, scattering the ships behind them. The rescue party, plus rescuee, had a clear run to hyperspace.

“You all right back there?” No answer. Poe turned to see that his passenger was fast asleep. He didn’t blame her. She probably hadn’t been allowed to rest since her capture. He left her to it and concentrated on getting them back to base without being shot down on arrival. Rose had fixed their transponders such that the Resistance’s scanners should be able to tell the difference, but even so, he made sure to call ahead as soon as possible. There were some risks even he wouldn’t take.

The shift from hyperspace to realspace woke Elinor up. Apparently the two states just _felt_ different. Poe was hazy on all things Force-related, and happy to stay that way, so he took her word for it. As they came in to land, she did her best to make herself presentable. It was strangely endearing. Surely _no one_ would expect her to look good after three days in a First Order cell? But it mattered to her.

So, it seemed, did being able to disembark unaided. Shaking off his attempts at helping as politely as she could, holding herself upright, she made her way out of the ship after him towards their reception committee (Rey, still debriefing Finn, BB-8 and Leia) and said, “Reporting for duty, General.”

“No, you’re not. Not until you’ve had a proper rest and got that arm seen to. Poe, go with her. Make sure she gets a good night’s sleep.” Did she know what had happened? Poe wouldn’t put it past her. BB-8 rolled over to greet them, but clearly didn’t want to get involved in any organic drama. Elinor let herself be taken to med-bay, but objected when Poe tried to deal with her injuries. “I can do it myself!”

“Yeah, I know, but I want to help. Please.” She relented. “Just arms and face, then. I can do the rest.”

That would have to do. He helped her remove her tunic, trying not to notice the burns on her upper chest, and started with the only wound that had had any sort of attention, the one on her left forearm. Under the bandage, it was a mess of dried blood. She was quick to reassure him. “It looks worse than it is. Barely touched the muscle, and missed all the major blood vessels. I think it’s the only one that needs bacta. Everything else will heal quickly enough on its own.”

“It’ll scar, even with bacta. You know that, right?”

“Don’t mind. Might even be taken seriously at last.” Her schoolgirl looks did count against her at times.

As he cleaned away the blood (it really wasn’t as bad as it looked, three straight cuts forming part of a rectangle where her implant had been taken out) and applied the bare minimum of bacta – he knew she detested wasting resources, especially on herself – before carrying on down to her hands and back up her arms to her face, he asked, “So, are we gonna talk about it?”

“About what?” Something told him she was nearly sure she knew what, but was double-checking.

“Us. You and me. Earlier.”

“How does one normally talk about these things? I don’t have much experience in these matters. Or any, come to that.”

“ _Seriously?”_ He stopped working and stared at her. OK, she wasn’t the galaxy’s most beautiful woman, but she was smart and kind and funny, with a smile that lit up a room. Had _no one_ seen that?

“I went to an all-girls' school, and didn’t really mix with boys from other schools. Then at university I didn’t have time to have both a boyfriend and any other social life. And then there was this.”

“So that was your first kiss? I wouldn’t’ve thought so.” He carried on treating her various cuts and bruises. “You enjoyed it, though, right?”

A grin he’d have called “scoundrel” on anyone else. “Understatement. But I think I do need practice.”

“Well, I’d be happy to help you there. If you’d like that?”

“Ra- _ther_!” Her enthusiasm was tinted with nervousness. He could understand that. Stars, twenty-two and never been kissed? He hadn’t thought that was possible.

“You’re sure? I don’t want to pressure you or make you uncomfortable. You set the pace.” He was acutely aware that he was a lot older than her, and she’d led such a sheltered life until now. And what would other people think? “We don’t even have to tell anyone just yet. Not if you don’t want to. Our secret – unless you think telling someone else would be safer.” He really, _really_ didn’t want to be _that_ guy. But she was old enough to know her own mind, at least. Besides, Leia surely could already guess, and probably Rey.

“I’m sure. But you’re right – I’m not ready to be half a public couple just yet. Especially if it means someone else might use me to hurt you.” He hadn’t even thought of that. “Thank you. For everything.”

“Hey, no problem.” He paused. “I care a lot about you.” He wasn’t ready to say _I love you_ just yet, but it was a definite possibility, and he was sure she was aware of that.

She gave him a smile he’d never seen on her before. He didn’t know what it meant, except that it was just for him.

“I know.”


End file.
